2. Chapter 2

“Is this going to be as much fun as the last time you and I had a deep and meaningful conversation? ‘Cause I liked that one, Bells.”

“No. It’s not going to be much fun… at all.”

“What is it? You can still tell me anything. Always.”

“Jake… Jake, he’s back.”

“What?”

“You know… he…”

“Oh. The leeches are back in town.”

“Not all of them.”

“Just him?”

“Just him.”

“What the hell is he doing here?”

“I’m sure you can…”

“He came to his senses and he wants you back.”

“That’s a nice way to put it, but… um, yeah. Pretty much. He says he only left to… to keep me safe.”

“Damn him.”

“What?”

“He abandoned you, for all this time, with Victoria on the loose, for your own good? He left you here, alone… Bella, I can read Sam’s thoughts. I know what it looked like when he said goodbye. You were dead, Bells. Dead. He killed you. I saw it with my own eyes… and this is your own good!”

“He apologized… he really does feel bad about it, Jake.”

“You can’t expect me to be happy about this, Bells. I mean, yeah, I’m glad for you. It’s good you aren’t falling apart inside… you know I would do anything to fix you. But I can’t be happy that you’re going back to him after everything he did to you.”

“What? Jake, what are you talking about?”

“Well, I don’t think you’re going to turn him down after you’ve spent the last six months pining for him. It just seems like an unrealistic assumption, you know? I love you. You know I love you. But I know you love him, more than anyone ever loved anyone else, more than the bounds of reason. And I understand, to an extent. Like Sam and Emily… sometimes we don’t get a choice about who we love. You don’t. I don’t think I do either, Bells.”

“Jacob Black, you stop talking right now or there will be dire consequences.”

“Stopped.”

“Good. Now I want you to listen to me.”

“Listening.”

“I approve. All right. Still quiet? Still listening? Then listen to this. I… am… not… leaving… you. Do you understand that?”

“You’re not going back to the bloodsucker?”

“No.”

“You’re not breaking up with me?”

“No.”

“You still want to be with me?”

“Yeah.”

“You love me?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh.”

“You really can be an idiot sometimes, Jake.”

“Oh, my God. You’re not going back to him. You love me even though he’s here and he wants you back and you’re still staying with me.”

“Yeah.”

“Bells… are you sure this is right? Are you sure it isn’t going to… to keep hurting you? Because I’d rather lose you than watch you fall back apart when I’ve just finished putting you together.”

“I’m sure.”

“Bella-“

“Jake, I’m sure. I couldn’t live with myself if I lost you. Besides, am I supposed to just trust him again? I know I can count on you. I love you.”

“And sorry about… assuming you were going to go back to him. I guess I just thought that you were… you love him.”

“Not as much as I love you. And the important thing is, with him, I get him, but I have to give everything else up. Everything. I can’t let him be my whole life. Not again. And you’ll never try to be everything to me. I can still have friends and Charlie and a real life.”

“Of course.”

“That’s important, Jake.”

“Does he know?”

“Yeah. He knows. He’s staying here, though… in case… in case…”

“I get it. I might go have a little chat with him.”

“Just don’t break my boyfriend, okay?”

“I thought you said…”

“I’m talking about you, Jake.”

“Oh. Right.”

“You have no idea how much I love you.”

“I think, as a matter of fact, I do. It may be almost as much as I love you.”